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Popular Culture Review
Piazza del Campidoglio with the equestrian statue of emperor Marcus
Aurelius, among others.
Dante Alighieri Vitruvian Man
Boccioni ‘^Birth of Venus^’ Coliseum
Campidoglio
The wide variety of cultural images Italy chose to incorporate clearly
indicates how important the country’s national heritage and contributions
to world culture and art are to the Italian people. Greece’s euros reflect a
similar focus.The flexibility of the euro design allowed for all its member
states to maintain their individuality by selecting nationally specific
figures of their own cultural heritage.
This philosophy holds true outside of the Eurozone as well.
Sweden’s Riksbank announced a competition in spring of 2011 to design
the country’s new banknotes. The General Council of the Ritsbank chose
Goran Osterlund’s “Kulturresan” (Cultural Journey) as the winner. As
the name suggests, popular cultural figures dominate the kronor,
featuring Astrid Ingmar Bergman, Birgit Nilsson, Greta Garbo and Evert
Taube, among others.
Sweden’s new 100 kronor (Greta Garbo) and 200 kronor (Ingmar Bergman)
The understanding of “cultural hero’’ in the west tends to revolve around
the arts — writers, painters, singers, actors — and science (particularly
Nobel prize winners). Yet often in eastern countries a cultural hero is the
common man, one who contributes to society to the best of his/her